Mazda’s rotary engine is one of automotive history’s oddities, and on the 50th anniversary of its birth, we take a look back.

Brian Leon

From Cosmos to concepts: Mazda celebrates 50 years of rotary engine oddballs

Mazda Rotary Engine Cutaway

If you’re unfamiliar with how a rotary – or “Wankel” after its inventor, Felix Wankel – engine works, consider this: a rotating triangle in a rounded-off rectangle acts in lieu of traditional cylinder-based compression chambers.